Beyond the stories themselves, the characteristics of each culture’s warrior heroes have numerous
similarities. The idealized knights of medieval chivalry and the samurai both believed in the concept of
death before dishonor, were expected to be devout adherents to their respective religions, and required
to follow certain codes of conduct. Both were even required to learn courtly skills and the arts in addition
to combat. For instance, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, whose story was incorporated into the Arthurian
legends, was renowned for his talent with the harp and his hunting abilities as well as his martial skills.
The Greek hero Achilles, in addition to being a one-man army, also knew how to play the harp or lyre.
What do you make of all these parallels? What does it say about us that the warrior heroes of different
societies and cultures have so much in common? How unique are the samurai, if at all? (Besides their
weapons and armor.)
Also, which do you think says more about a culture and what it believes in: the warrior heroes of history
that a society honors, or the warrior heroes of fiction a society creates? Why? What warrior heroes,
fictional or otherwise, are valued in your own respective cultures? (I’ll leave it up to you to decide what
counts as your culture.) I am from Asian please write anything relate to Asian culture.
One last point, just out of curiosity: did you have any preconceived notions about the samurai or ninja
before reading this week’s PowerPoint? If so, what were they, and where do you think they came from?